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A historic Chesco bridge will be rehabbed to extend a scenic trail

The county anticipates inspections will soon begin on the century-old trestle bridge in Downingtown, as it kicks off a years-long project to expand the Chester Valley Trail.

The Brandywine Valley Viaduct (colloquially referred to as the Downingtown Trestle Bridge or Downingtown High Bridge, and historically known as the Pennsylvania Railroad Freight Bridge) spans the East Branch Brandywine Creek and U.S. Route 322 near Downingtown Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 Chester County purchased the conic bridge last year, and received a grant to make repairs.
The Brandywine Valley Viaduct (colloquially referred to as the Downingtown Trestle Bridge or Downingtown High Bridge, and historically known as the Pennsylvania Railroad Freight Bridge) spans the East Branch Brandywine Creek and U.S. Route 322 near Downingtown Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026 Chester County purchased the conic bridge last year, and received a grant to make repairs.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

A project to expand the Chester Valley Trail and repair the historic Downingtown Trestle Bridge, which has spent decades largely untouched, will kick off soon, Chester County officials said.

It’s part of a larger effort to expand the sprawling Chester Valley Trail, a 19-mile rail trail that runs through Chester and Montgomery Counties, from Exton to Atglen.

“The bridge is a really key part of it, because it’s multimodal,” said George Martynick, director of Chester County’s facilities and parks department. “Without that bridge, I really don’t know what we’d do with this project. It is the keystone of that project. It’s a big job.”

As the county kicks off the project, people can expect to see inspections taking place on the bridge in the coming months. The trestle will get a full inspection to make sure it meets federal standards, Martynick said. Design is slated to begin in the next year, and the rehabilitation and extension should be completed in five to seven years, he said.

The bridge stretches 1,450 feet long and more than 130 feet high over the east Brandywine River. Known as the “Brandywine Valley Viaduct,” “Downingtown High Bridge,” or “Pennsylvania Railroad Freight Bridge”— but colloquially called the Downingtown Trestle Bridge — it was constructed in the early 1900s, according to the Downingtown Area Historical Society.

“This is taking on something much bigger than I think a lot of people understand,” Martynick said.

The Trestle Bridge has been out of commission since the 1980s, with the track removed. Since then, the bridge has sat abandoned, and has had a troubled history. Security measures were added to prevent people from accessing it, and netting was put on it to keep debris from falling off it.

The county completed a drone inspection before it took ownership of the bridge last year.

In May, the county commissioners voted to purchase a portion of the former Philadelphia and Thorndale railroad corridor from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for $1.

Other than some growth and weeds, “it’s in fairly good shape,” Martynick said.

The county has received three grants for the project — two from the state department of conservation and natural resources, each for $500,000, and a Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission grant for $200,000, said Brian Styche, the multimodal transportation planning director for the county’s planning commission.

The county is matching both of the conservation and natural resources grants, for a total of $2.2 million in funding toward the bridge’s design.

“It’s a good project. It’s going to take a lot of time and effort and a lot of patience, but it will be a pretty impressive project for the community,” Martynick said.

It’s a personally important project, too: Martynick applied to work in the county’s parks department because of his love of the trail.

“I love it,” he said. “It’s a very, very special trail.”